Established: Effective July 1, 1870, by an act of June 22, 1870
(16 Stat. 162).

Predecessor Agencies:

Office of the Attorney General (1789-1870)

Functions: Enforces federal laws and investigates violations.
Provides legal advice to the President and to heads of Executive
agencies. Represents the Federal Government in court. Conducts
law enforcement, crime prevention, and offender rehabilitation
programs. Administers immigration and naturalization laws, and
registers aliens. Supervises U.S. attorneys and marshals.

Finding Aids: Marion Johnson, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the
General Records of the Department of Justice, PI 194 (1981);
updated version in National Archives microfiche edition of
preliminary inventories.

Security-Classified Records: This record group may include
material that is security-classified.

Related Records:
Record copies of publications of the Department
of Justice in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.
Records of the National Commission on Law Observance and
Enforcement, RG 10.
Records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, RG 65.
Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, RG 85.
Records of U.S. Attorneys and Marshals, RG 118.
Records of the Bureau of Prisons, RG 129.
Records of the Office of Alien Property, RG 131.
Records of the Drug Enforcement Administration, RG 170.
Records of the Bureau of War Risk Litigation, RG 190.
Records of the Office of the Pardon Attorney, RG 204.
Records of the Solicitor of the Treasury, RG 206.
Records of the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, RG 423.
Records of Independent Counsels, RG 449.
Records of the Watergate Special Prosecution Force, RG 460.

60.2 Records of the Office of the Attorney General
1790-1870

History: Established by the Judiciary Act (1 Stat. 73), September
24, 1789. Named to head the Justice Department upon its creation,
1870. See 60.1.

History: By terms of the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo, February 2,
1848 (9 Stat. 922), title to all public land in California passed
from Mexico to the United States. By an act of March 3, 1851 (9
Stat. 631), a three-member Board of Commissioners was appointed
to settle California land claims. The board completed its work in
March 1856, after which time contested claims were litigated in
federal courts.

Photographs (105 images): Photographic exhibits of documents in
the Mexican archives relating to certain land claims, n.d. See
Also 60.22.

Related Records: Claims records of the Board of Commissioners in
the Records of the Bureau of Land Management, RG 49.

Subject Access Terms: Hartman, Isaac; Jouan, Auguste.

60.2.3 Records of the Solicitor of the Court of Claims

History: Position of Solicitor established by an act of February
24, 1855 (10 Stat. 612). Abolished by act of June 25, 1868 (15
Stat. 75), and functions transferred to the Attorney General.
Responsibility for representing the government before the Court
of Claims has been exercised since 1937 by the Court of Claims
Section, Claims Division.

60.3 General Records of the Department of Justice
1849-1989 (bulk 1870-1981)

History: Established under the Attorney General by an act of June
22, 1870 (16 Stat. 162). To it were transferred the Solicitor of
the Treasury, and law officers of the State and Navy Departments
and the Bureau of Internal Revenue; and functions formerly vested
in the Department of the Interior, including supervision of the
accounts of U.S. attorneys and marshals, and control of the
judiciary fund.

Textual Records: Letters received from the President, Executive
departments, Congress, judicial districts, state officials, and
the general public ("Source-Chronological Files"), 1871-84 (312
ft.), with registers and indexes. Letters received and filed
numerically by subject ("Year Files"), 1884-1904 (649 ft.), with
registers and indexes. Letters received relating to judiciary
accounts, 1849-89, with registers. Index to records relating to
the administration of judicial districts, 1884-1912. Card
indexes, 1886-1912. Letters received concerning the Columbian
Exposition, 1893.

Maps (100 items): Exhibits and other enclosures to Year Files,
1884-1903. See Also 60.18.

Sound Recordings (592 items): English-language radio broadcasts
from Berlin over German Radio Broadcasting Corp., 1941-45, by
Herbert John Bergman, Douglas Chandler, Frederick Wilhelm
Kaltenbach, and Robert Best, used during their trials, 1947-49.
See Also 60.21.

Textual Records: Administrative orders, circulars, and
memorandums, 1856-1977. Records relating to a study of the use of
federal force in strikes, race riots, and other internal
disturbances ("Glasser File"), ca. 1938. Source material and
drafts relating to the preparation of an administrative history
of the DOJ during the Johnson Administration, 1963-68. Microfilm
copy of evidence ("Pumpkin Papers") used in U.S. v. Alger Hiss,
1948-51 (5 rolls). Miscellaneous reference materials and working
papers, 1870-1930. Planning, program, and budget files, 1965-70.

Microfilm Publications: M1491.

Photographs (263 images): Documents reproduced from the "Pumpkin
Papers," and used in U.S. v. Alger Hiss, 1948-51. See Also 60.22.

60.4 Records of Department of Justice Officials
1870-1979

60.4.1 Records of the Attorney General

Textual Records: Confidential and semiofficial letters sent,
1877-1901. Reports and exhibits of judgments in circuit and
district court cases, 1890-1914. Letters sent by the Attorney
General's private secretary, 1895-1900.

60.4.4 Records of the Assistant Attorney General for the Spanish
Treaty Claims Commission

History: An Assistant Attorney General in charge of Spanish
treaty claims was established by the act creating the Spanish
Treaty Claims Commission (31 Stat. 877), March 2, 1901. The
commission received and adjudicated claims of U.S. citizens
against Spain resulting from the Spanish-American War. The
Assistant Attorney General defended the claims, and the interests
of the United States, before the commission. Upon submission of a
final report, May 2, 1910, the commission ceased to exist.

Textual Records: Dockets, 1901-2. Order books, 1901-9. Record of
pleadings, 1903-7. Record of proceedings, 1910. Correspondence
with the Department of State, 1901-4. Letters received and sent
by the Assistant Attorney General, 1901-10. Correspondence of
special agent Maddin Summers, 1902-6. Letters received from
attorneys and agents in Cuba and Spain, 1902-10. Lists of cases,
1902-9. Reference materials, 1870-1910. "Final Report of William
Wallace Brown, Assistant Attorney General," 1910.

History: Appointed in 1877 to administer funds for the
prosecution of federal crimes, including violations of statutes
concerning trade with Indians. By 1882, duties included
conducting investigations, administering prisons and prisoners,
and supervising federal agents and examiners. In 1895, became
responsible for constructing and maintaining federal prisons.
Departmental accounting functions centralized in the Division of
Accounts, established under the General Agent, October 1, 1894.
By order of the Attorney General, October 1, 1907, position of
General Agent abolished, with functions divided among Chief
Examiner, Superintendent of Prisons and Prisoners, and Division
of Accounts. Offices of Chief Examiner and Superintendent of
Prisons and Prisoners evolved into Federal Bureau of
Investigation and Bureau of Prisons, respectively. Title "General
Agent" revived in 1922 for the head of the Division of Accounts,
which became the Accounts Branch, pursuant to DOJ Circular 4036,
August 5, 1948.

Textual Records: Correspondence, 1877-1901, 1922-23. Letters to
the Attorney General, 1882-93. Letters sent relating to prisoners
("The Criminal Record"), 1881-85. Miscellaneous letters sent,
1882-1907. Records relating to examiners, including instructions,
1882-1907, and reports and correspondence, 1877-1907. Letters
from the general agent, 1904-7. Letters received concerning
accounts of U.S. attorneys, 1883-86. Documents relating to post
office contracts, 1878-82. Records concerning charges against
U.S. marshals in Alabama, 1883; and against court officers, 1887-
89. Records relating to prisons, 1879-81, and prisoners, 1879-84,
1899-1906. Records of the Division of Accounts, including
register of "leases approved," 1872-94; returns of fees and
expenses of U.S. marshals, 1896-1912; letters sent to U.S.
attorneys and marshals, 1896-1907; and reports, correspondence,
and administrative files of the Examiners' Unit, 1907-34.

Photographs (41 images): U.S. penitentiaries in Atlanta, GA, and
Leavenworth, KS, n.d. See Also 60.22.

Textual Records: Records of Special Assistant to the Attorney
General Blackburn Esterline, including commerce court case files,
1911-23; case files relating to interstate commerce, 1914-22;
miscellaneous papers on interstate commerce cases, 1916-17;
letter books, 1911-16, including a personal letter book, 1913-14;
and a grand jury docket for the western district of New York,
1922-26. Miscellaneous case exhibits, 1910-39. Files of special
assistant David D. L'Esperance, 1922-25, relating to the railway
strike of 1922; and of special assistant R. McDonald Gray, 1938-
42, relating to an investigation of the Philadelphia baking
industry.

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Antitrust
Division in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.

60.9.1 Records relating to the defense of patent claims before
the War Claims Arbiter

History: Office of War Claims Arbiter established by an act of
March 10, 1928 (45 Stat. 254), to determine fair compensation due
German, Austrian, and Hungarian nationals whose patents or
applications for patents had been seized during World War I by
the Alien Property Custodian.

Finding Aids: F. Hardee Allen and Thayer Boardman, comps.,
"Preliminary Checklist of the Records of the Claims Division of
the Department of Justice, 1928-31, relating to the Defense of
Patent Claims Before the War Claims Arbiter under the Settlement
of the War Claims Act of 1928," PC 24 (1945).

60.9.2 Other records

Textual Records: Records of special assistant Howard W. Ameli,
1920-28. Files of special assistant W.S. Ward, 1918-35, relating
primarily to U.S. v. J.L. Phillips et al. Files of attorney Brice
Toole, ca. 1915-47, relating to the Albert Jensen German ships
cases. Files of special assistant Alexander Holtzoff, 1920-30,
relating to the Textile Allowance, C.P. Goerz American Optical
Company, and Atlantic Communication Company cases. Files of
attorney William W. Scott relating to the sale of surplus
government supplies and equipment after World War I, 1929-32.
Miscellaneous case records, 1902-25.

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Assistant
Attorney General for the Court of Claims in RG 287, Publications
of the U.S. Government.

60.10 Records of the Criminal Division
1925-30, 1963, 1968-87

60.10.1 General records

Textual Records: Indexes to litigation case files, 1930-87. Employee clearances index, 1940-85. Records of Special Assistant to the Attorney
General Forrest A. Harness, relating primarily to the American
Bond and Mortgage Company cases, 1925-30. Records relating to
investigations of the Carter Warehouse and Billy Carter Gas
Station, 1976-79.

60.10.2 Records of the General Litigation and Legal Advice
Section

Textual Records: Records relating to custody of the original
photograph by Mary A. Moorman (November 22, 1963) of President
John F. Kennedy's limousine and the "Grassy Knoll," Dallas, TX;
and of sound recordings of the assassination (described below),
during the House Select Committee on Assassinations investigation
and while being analyzed by a scientific panel headed by Norman
F. Ramsey, Harvard University, 1979-82.

Related Records: Record copies of publications of the Land and
Natural Resources Division in RG 287, Publications of the U.S.
Government.

60.12.2 Records of the Birmingham, AL, Field Office

Textual Records (in Atlanta): Administrative file, reports,
correspondence, and an attorney's file, 1936-40. Correspondence
and other records concerning land acquisition for New Deal
projects in Alabama ("Projects File"), 1936-40. Records
concerning settlements of land purchases ("Settlements File"),
and condemnations ("Condemnation File"), 1936-40. Records
relating to proceeds of land sales ("Distribution File"), 1936-
40, and to the payment of taxes on land purchased by the
government ("Tax File"), 1936-40. Forest Service and War
Department case files, 1936-40. Final opinions, 1936-40. Index to
cases, 1936-40. Bulletins, 1938-39.

History: Established by Attorney General's Order 2507, suppl. 14,
May 19, 1942, to facilitate departmental work in areas of war
planning, alien enemy control, and alien property control.
Consisted initially of Special War Policies Unit (SWPU), Alien
Enemy Control Unit, and Alien Property Unit, supplemented shortly
thereafter by a War Frauds Unit. In reorganization of August 28,
1943, War Frauds Unit transferred to Criminal Division; SWPU
abolished and functions transferred to Criminal Division, except
for Emergency Advisory Committee for Political Defense (retained
in Latin American Section), administration of Foreign Agents
Registration Act (in Foreign Agents Registration Section), and
federal-state relations work (in Federal-State Relations
Section); and Economic Warfare Section created to handle newly
assigned responsibility for collecting industrial information for
the Office of Economic Warfare. Division abolished December 28,
1945.

60.14.1 General records of the Special War Policies Unit

History: Neutrality Laws Unit established in Office of the
Attorney General, April 1940, and subsequently redesignated
Special Defense Unit. Further redesignated SWPU and assigned to
newly established War Division, 1942. Abolished in divisional
reorganization of August 28, 1943, and superseded by Latin
American, Alien Enemy Control, and Alien Property Sections.

History: Established as a partial successor to SWPU, August 28,
1943. Acted as the technical legal staff of U.S. representatives
on the Emergency Advisory Committee for Political Defense (also
known as the Inter-American Advisory Committee for Political
Defense), an advisory body to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of
the American Republics. Terminated with War Division, December
28, 1945.

Related Records: Records relating to the Inter-American Advisory
Committee for Political Defense in RG 43, Records of
International Conferences, Commissions, and Expositions.
Committee reports, included with Pan American Union Governing
Board minutes and Director General annual reports, in Columbus
Memorial Library, Organization of American States, Washington,
DC.

History: Established informally to conduct DOJ wartime
activities, including control of enemy aliens, trading, sabotage,
treason and sedition, conscription, and protection of factories
and communication facilities. Abolished May 31, 1919.

History: Established July 20, 1922, by order of the Attorney
General, retroactive to May 22, 1922. Investigated and prosecuted
alleged frauds committed against the United States in connection
with war contracts. Abolished June 30, 1926.

Textual Records: Correspondence, 1922-24. Section historical
report, 1923-24. Records of Director Paul Shipman Andrews,
including an office file, 1924-25, and a case book, 1924. Legal
files relating to the prosecution of war contract cases, 1923-25.
Minutes and other records of the Joint Board of Survey, 1923-25.
General records of the Quartermaster Survey Unit, 1923-25.

Related Records: Records of the War Transactions Board in RG 153,
Records of the Office of the Judge Advocate General (Army).

History: A board of parole established in each federal prison
pursuant to the Parole Act (36 Stat. 819), June 25, 1910.
Superseded by single Board of Parole pursuant to amendments to
the Parole Act (46 Stat. 272), May 12, 1930. Abolished, with
functions to U.S. Parole Commission, by an act of March 15, 1976
(90 Stat. 219).

Textual Records: Dockets of meetings, 1930-43.

Related Records: Records of boards of parole in RG 129, Records
of the Bureau of Prisons.

60.15.4 Records of the Bureau of Prohibition

History: Prohibition Unit established in Bureau of Internal
Revenue, Department of the Treasury, 1919. Redesignated Bureau of
Prohibition, effective April 1, 1927, by an act of March 3, 1927
(44 Stat. 1381).

By the Prohibition Reorganization Act of 1930 (46 Stat. 427), May
27, 1930, effective July 1, 1930, Bureau of Prohibition
(Treasury) redesignated Bureau of Industrial Alcohol; and a new
Bureau of Prohibition established in DOJ, to include Enforcement
Division, transferred from Treasury.

Bureau of Prohibition abolished, effective March 2, 1934, by EO
6166, June 10, 1933, with investigative functions merged with
those of Bureau of Investigation to form Division of
Investigation, DOJ. Residual functions transferred to Bureau of
Internal Revenue by EO 6639, March 10, 1934.

Textual Records: Dockets of ship seizures in prohibition cases,
1923-27. Letters sent to members of Congress, 1930-34.

Related Records: Records of the Narcotics Division, Bureau of
Prohibition, in RG 170, Records of the Drug Enforcement
Administration. Records of the Bureau of Investigation in RG 65,
Records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

60.16.2 Records relating to appointments and applications for
appointment in the Department of Justice and in federal courts
and judicial districts

Textual Records: Appointment papers, 1850-1913 (53 ft.). Records
relating to members of the Supreme Court, 1853-1932; and Supreme
Court candidates, 1853-1924. Appointment files for positions in
judicial districts, 1853-1933 (725 ft.); circuit court judges,
1855-1901; judges and personnel of the U.S. Court of Claims,
1855-1928; Circuit Court of Appeals, 1903-29; U.S. Customs Court,
1909-37; U.S. Commerce Court, 1910-13; and U.S. Court of Customs
Appeals and U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals, 1929-30.
Endorsements and other records relating to appointment of judges
of the Court of Private Land Claims, 1889-1901. Application
files, 1891-1902. Commissions of deputy marshals, 1896-1937.
Correspondence concerning appointments, 1921-35.

Microfilm Publications: M198, M224, M680, M681.

60.16.3 Records relating to appointments and applications for
appointment in the District of Columbia and in other federal
departments and agencies

Textual Records: Records relating to appointments to positions in
the District of Columbia, including justice of the peace, 1888-
1907; commissioner of deeds, 1888-1943; notary public, 1888-1926;
and trustee of reform schools, 1895-1938. Records relating to
applications for positions on the Interstate Commerce Commission,
1904-10, and the Wickersham Commission, 1929; and in other
departments and agencies, 1881-1932.

History: Appointed February 16, 1939, in response to a
Presidential request, to examine procedural practices of
administrative agencies that made decisions directly affecting
private rights and property. Terminated upon submission of final
report, 1941, published as Administrative Procedure in Government
Agencies.

History: Established following a conference on crime held in
December 1934. Studied issues relating to the criminal justice
system and crime prevention, and acted as a clearinghouse for
information on criminal questions.

History: Investigation of aircraft production initiated in 1918
at the request of the President. Conducted by Charles E. Hughes
with DOJ cooperation.

Textual Records: General records, 1918-19. Transcripts of
testimony, 1918. Office file of Assistant Attorney General
William L. Frierson, 1918-19. Report of Committee on Aircraft
Investigation, May 2, 1918. Reports on aircraft production, and
aviation training and equipment, 1918. Transcripts of
proceedings, Senate and House committees on military affairs,
1918. Third annual report, National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics, 1918. History of the Liberty airplane motor by the
Packard Motor Company, 1918.

60.17.4 Records of the Commission to Investigate the Title of the
United States to Lands in the District of Columbia

History: Established by an act of May 30, 1908 (35 Stat. 543).
Also known as the Commission on Government Lands in the District
of Columbia. Terminated following submission of report, 1916.

History: Initiated by a letter of February 5, 1943, from
President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Attorney General Francis
Biddle. Objective was to determine need for a uniform policy with
respect to ownership, use, and control of inventions made by
employees of federal government contractors. Terminated 1947,
following submission of final report, "Investigation of
Government Patent Practices and Policies," issued in 1947.

60.17.8 Records of the Attorney General's Survey of Release
Procedures

History: Established as a Works Progress Administration project,
1935. Investigated federal and state policies concerning the
probation, parole, and pardon of federal and state convicts.
Terminated 1938.

History: Established February 22, 1985, at the request of
President Ronald Reagan, pursuant to the Federal Advisory
Committee Act (86 Stat. 770), October 6, 1972. Last meeting held
May 2, 1986. Final report issued, July 1986.

Motion Pictures (8 reels): Exhibit items, consisting of examples
of commercial pornographic films, submitted as supplementary
material to testimony in public hearings before the commission in
Los Angeles and Miami, 1985-86.

Video Recordings (15 items): Exhibit items and supplementary
materials submitted with testimony in public hearings of the
commission in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC, 1985-86,
including a compilation of excerpts from Hollywood feature films
dealing with sex and violence and pornographic film clips from
1930 to the 1960s; a lecture presentation by behavioral
consultant Frank O'Sanka on child abuse and pornography (July 25,
1985); a Florida television documentary, "Our Little Secret,"
examining pedophilia and child abuse; and examples of
commercially available pornographic and erotic sex films.

Sound Recordings (6 items): Supplementary exhibit materials
submitted with testimony in public hearings of the commission in
Chicago, Miami, Memphis, and Scottsdale (AZ), 1985-86, including
Frank O'Sanka discussing pornography as a cause of criminal acts
(July 23, 1985); telephone conversations with a pedophile
(September 12, 1985); Elizabeth Holland, pediatrician and member
of the Memphis Child Abuse Committee, discussing the treatment of
child victims of pornographers (1985); and examples of "Dial-A-
Porn" telephone messages (1985-86). See Also 60.21.

See Photographs under 60.2.2, 60.3.5, and 60.5.3.
See Color Slides under 60.17.10.

Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States. Compiled by Robert B. Matchette et al. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1995.
3 volumes, 2428 pages.